Page 34 of Highlander's Captive Bride
“But at the beginning, we didnae ken they were being attacked, too. And naebody kenned who was behind these attacks. Me faither was blaming O’Reid, for everything seemed to point at him being responsible for the attacks, and a clan war seemed inevitable. But then, with all this going on, out of the blue, Laird O’Reid came to our castle and asked for me sister Delilah’s hand.”
“What on earth prompted him to do a foolish thing like that, being yer faither’s enemy and all?” Bellamy asked in obvious amazement. “Did yer faither nae kill him?”
Daisy shook her head. “He would have liked to, but Keegan Farlane vouched for Evan when he proposed marriage with Delilah as the basis of a peace treaty between the two clans, putting a stop to the war.”
“Did yer faither nae refuse?”
“He did, but it was more complicated than that. Ye see, the year before, Faither had arranged for her to wed the Laird of Rottrich. The day of the ceremony came. Everything was ready. The groom, all the family, the guests, and the minister were all waiting for her in the chapel. But she didnae come.
“The hours ticked by, and Faither got angrier by the minute, and so did William, the groom. Everyone went to search for her, but she couldnae be found. It turned out she’d taken a horse and run away, jilting William at the altar.”
Bellamy gave a surprised chuckle. “Did she, by God?! What happened after that?”
“It wasnae funny at the time,” Daisy told him, smiling at the memory. “Well, ye can imagine there was a big argument between Faither and William, who rightly complained he’d been cheated out of a bride. So, they agreed on the only compromise available.”
“And what was that?” Bellamy asked, clearly fascinated by the tale.
“Poor Dakota had to put on the wedding dress meant for Delilah and marry the Laird of Rottrich in her stead, of course. Thankfully, I was too young at the time.”
“Aye, thankfully,” he agreed, flashing her a smile that made her heart skip. “But poor Dakota, eh?”
Daisy shook her head. “Och, no, for it turned out she and William got on really well, and they’re very happy. They have three lovely bairns. William always teases Delilah about it now, saying he had a lucky escape. At any rate, that was how me sister Delilah came to be kenned as the runaway bride.”
Bellamy laughed outright. “Did she, indeed? The lass has spirit, I’ll say that. I’m nae surprised ye’re sisters! It must run in the family. So, tell me, how does all this fit with ye leaving home as a healer?”
“Well, ye can understand that after that fiasco, none of the eligible lairds wanted to marry her, and me faither was furious about the way she’d embarrassed him,” Daisy went on. “To add insult to injury, in Faither’s eyes at least, Laird O’Reid arrived with his proposal right in the middle of a big cèilidh he’d organized. He’d invited every eligible laird within miles, telling Delilah she had to pick one of them as a husband that day, or else.”
“But none of them would have her?” Bellamy prompted.
“Aye, it was a disaster, so he was even more furious with her then. And when Laird O’Reid arrived, asking for her hand and a peace treaty, Faither would have killed him, but Keegan, me braither Dominic, and all of Faither’s advisors prevented it. They wanted peace. Ye can imagine it was a big surprise to us all when, after everything she’d said and done, Delilah insisted on marrying Evan.Wethought Faither’s heart would burst with rage!”
“Was Delilah doing it to spite yer faither?”
“Well, she admitted to me later that she was so sick of him trying to force her to marry, for she didnae want to marry at all back then, and before we fell out with the O’Reids, Evan’s faither and ours had been good friends. Delilah and Evan had kind of grown up together before the fallout. Are ye keeping up with all this?”
Bellamy nodded. “Aye. ’Tis fascinating.”
“Anyway, it turned out that Delilah and Evan had made a secret pact for a pretend betrothal.”
Bellamy laughed. “Ach! I see. If they were betrothed, it would get yer faither off her back, and O’Reid would get his peace treaty.”
“Exactly. But at the time, everyone thought the betrothal was real.”
“So, where does this Keegan Farlane fit into all this?”
“Delilah went to stay with Evan at Castle O’Reid as his betrothed. I suppose over time, they got close, and with her help, Evan finally managed to work out what Keegan was up to—that he planned to attack Castle McGunn, kill us all, and take over the clan.”
“The bastard! The man must have been mad,” Bellamy exclaimed.
“He lusted for power, it seemed. Anyway, let me finish telling ye the story. So, when Evan realized Keegan was going to attack me clan, he sent messengers and rode with his men as fast as he could to tell me faither.”
“Did he get there in time?”
“The attack had been going on for some time when he got there, and Keegan’s men had killed many of our people. The castle was on fire—”
Bellamy surprised her by suddenly taking hold of her shoulders and looking down intently at her. “And where were ye during the attack? Were ye still in the castle?” He sounded worried.
She nodded, the memory making her feel suddenly cold. “Aye, they took us by surprise and overran the castle very quickly. I didnae ken where Faither and Dominic were, but I hoped they were alive and fighting.” She stopped then, almost unable to continue.
